There’s no question about it – your website deserves the best home (host) possible.
However, choosing the best VPS hosting provider and a plan can be a slightly confusing process. You need to consider your budget, the resources you require, reliability, security and the future of your business. A VPS (Virtual Private Server) can comfortably accommodate all those needs. It gives you the reliable resources you need to increase the performance and uptime of your website. It is far less expensive than Dedicated Server Hosting, and far more secure than Shared Hosting. It is not only highly secure, but also allows you a great deal of control, the ability to customise, and the privacy you require to carry out your business goals.
What is VPS Hosting?
Simply put, a VPS Hosting environment is like a dedicated server within a Shared Hosting environment. You do not share the resources dedicated to your VPS plan with the other hosts on the physical server – giving you privacy, customisation, all the resources you require and steady performance. It may be more expensive than Shared Hosting, but it is far less expensive than a dedicated server.
With VPS Hosting, a number of virtual private servers are installed on one physical server with the help of virtualization software. However, they remain completely separate, with each one running their own Operating System. Therefore, your website and applications will remain unaffected by the actions of other users on the same server. Complete root access means you have the autonomy to install any kind of customised software without being restricted. You also get guaranteed resources, including CPU, RAM and bandwidth.
Now that we’ve discussed what VPS is, and what advantages it brings to your business, the question now becomes how to choose the best VPS Plan. There are different factors to consider when choosing the best VPS Hosting plan. We’ve listed them out for you, below:
- Cost
As we’ve mentioned earlier, VPS is a lot less expensive than dedicated web hosting despite the fact that it offers similar services. When you are choosing a VPS plan, it’s important to consider the assets you need to serve your website. Be realistic about your needs and go through each plan offered by your provider before making your choice. You need to hit the right balance between resources and what you’re willing to pay.
- Customer Support
It’s vital that you choose a VPS provider that offers you full-time, round the clock support. Most hosting companies offer email support or a kind of ticketing system to request for help. These options work well for minor, non-emergency problems. However, good hosting providers will also provide you with phone support. In the event of a serious emergency, it’s likely that you would want to talk to someone instantly. Look out for 24/7 customer support and the option of phone support when you’re choosing your VPS plan.
- Managed and Unmanaged
Another important factor to consider is whether you would prefer managed, or unmanaged VPS Hosting. With Managed VPS Hosting, your web hosting provider takes care of all the server related issues. This can greatly decrease your workload, as the web hosting provider takes care of the server resources and monitors the server while they make regular updates and necessary upgrades when required. This is perfect if you’re a non-technical customer who doesn’t have the skills to set up and configure the server, or for those who are too busy to handle their VPS.
Unmanaged VPS Hosting leaves the responsibility of the VPS on the customer’s shoulders. Setting up, configuring, and monitoring the VPS is in your hands. You need to be highly skilled and tech-savvy; however, it does grant you a degree of freedom to do as you please on the server. This is not recommended for beginners. If you’re looking for help to manage your VPS, see if your hosting provider offers you an integrated and pre-installed cPanel, which can help you manage the hosting environment efficiently. With a cPanel, you get a wide range of features that allows you to control every aspect of your website.
Furthermore, for beginners or businesses that are busy, the worry is setting up your server. Make sure that your hosting provider offers free set up and VPS servers that are designed to be provisioned quickly.
- Root Access
Root access gives you an administrator-level login, giving you the ability to take complete control of your server. You can use it for almost anything, including hosting multiple websites, installing third-party applications/ software, game servers and much more. You can also maintain it as per your preferences, without any restrictions. Furthermore, your hosting provider should offer you complete control over the server, with the options to start, stop and rebuild if required.
- Security
One of the greatest benefits of VPS Hosting is the isolated and secure nature of your hosting environment. Look for factors like pre-configured security settings for different authentication methods, anti-virus protection, regular and automatic updates and vulnerability monitors.
There are a lot of factors that go into choosing the right VPS plan. Uptime reliability, top-of-the-line hardware, a great network, guaranteed resources and more. While it may seem to be a lot to check off your list, the best VPS Hosting provider will fulfil all of the criteria above. Check out our VPS Hosting Plans, created for different budgets and different requirements. Read our testimonials and discover why a VPS with HostGator could give your website all the security, performance and resources that it needs to fly.
To know more about the other web hosting categories and to choose the right option for your business, visit our Hosting Blogs Category.
